George Lucas to receive life-time achievement award

dangerman

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041015/laf049_1.html

What do we think of this?

He created one of the greatest trilogies of all time, and now he's systematically destroying their legacy.

projectmayhem

i guess if you're entire life is dedicated to essencially ONE story you deserve either a pat on the back or a middle finger. but when your one story makes such an impact, i guess the latter is just rude.

Pigman II

Didn't know he was dying?

Anyway it doesn't really matter, I'm currently working on a special edition of my childhood.... and he's been CGI'd out of it.

steveland?

His achievement ended a long time ago...

ObeyGiant

I expect this kind of whining about him from Slashdot, but I seriously thought you guys were smarter than that. Well, most of the time, you are.

Lucas' contribution to film did not begin and end with the special editions of his movies. Sure, there's the original trilogy, which stand as three of the most successful movies of all time. And yes, we have the special editions, which -- despite people's vitriol -- aren't all that different. And there's his other movies, like American Graffiti and the Indiana Jones trilogy. All remarkably entertaining movies, no doubt, but he's not winning this award for any of these.

He's winning this award for his contribution to filmmaking. And Lucas' contribution to filmmaking is almost unparalleled - THX, Industrial Light and Magic, Skywalker sound, non-linear editing systems, and to a lesser extent, Pixar - Lucas is responsible for each of these. And most recently, he's been pioneering digital filmmaking. I'd challenge anyone to find another director who has done more for the craft than Lucas.

First person to try and pass Lars Von Trier or any of those stupid Dogme directors off as examples of this gets a punch in the mouth.

monkeyfudge

ObeyGiant wrote:

And Lucas' contribution to filmmaking is almost unparalleled - THX, Industrial Light and Magic, Skywalker sound, non-linear editing systems, and to a lesser extent, Pixar - Lucas is responsible for each of these.

You've been paying close attention to the extras on the Star Wars DVDs, haven't you?

Cabaal

Will he get a Re-Mastered life time achievement award in a few years?

ObeyGiant

monkeyfudge wrote:

You've been paying close attention to the extras on the Star Wars DVDs, haven't you?

You think that repeating the facts stated very plainly on the DVDs changes the validity of any of my statement?

Jim

Hopefully the award will be a container of crazy purple knockout gas.

ixoy

ObeyGiant wrote:

You think that repeating the facts stated very plainly on the DVDs changes the validity of any of my statement?

Nah but if we're feeling mean we'll just shift those award achievements and blame him for creating an industry that uses technical achievements to distract from bad story telling, such as Van Helsing

As a matter of interest, what was the non-linear editing achievement? I was aware of the others but this sounds more interesting. And as to him pioneering digital, I don't think he's made any headway in getting digital projectors installed has he? Is most of his work in pioneering high defintion digital video (and was 'Collateral' an example of this?).

Karl Hungus

There's really not that much to be said about his creative output bar the original trilogy (no, I didn't like American Graffiti) but there really isn't any denying the technical contributions to film. Obeygiant pretty much says it more indepth than me.

However, that's not to say that any kind of lifetime acheivement award would hold much wieght with me and how I would view a film-maker. It's as meaningless as the oscars I'm afraid to say.

Crucifix

Jimeatsmenu wrote:

Hopefully the award will be a container of crazy purple knockout gas.

Ha ha ha.
Anywho, it is undeniable that he achieved alot. Maybe they're trying to force him to retire. Think about, it does seem like a subtle nudge in that direction.

ObeyGiant

ixoy wrote:

As a matter of interest, what was the non-linear editing achievement? I was aware of the others but this sounds more interesting.

Trolling about technology as a crutch for bad movies aside (:D), the best way to describe non-linear editing is to use an anology.

If editing is like writing a book, non-linear editing is like using a computer with a word processor, whereas traditional, "linear" editing is like using a typewriter. In traditional editing systems, you had to work sequentially from the start. Edit the first scene into place, then the second, then the third and so on. With non-linear editing, you can start your editing anywhere you like -- e.g. edit the middle of the movie first, then the beginning, then the end.

And as to him pioneering digital, I don't think he's made any headway in getting digital projectors installed has he? Is most of his work in pioneering high defintion digital video (and was 'Collateral' an example of this?).

So far, the uptake of digital projectors in cinemas has been rather low. But this doesn't necessarily mean that it's been a failure, or that his work in this area shouldn't go unrecognised. It's worth noting that uptake in digital sound was also slow in the beginning (I can't remember where I read it, but I remember reading about a studio executive asking "Why the hell would you need stereo in a comedy?!", which goes some way to demonstrating the reluctance of movie studios to embrace a new technology).

But his pioneering efforts in using digital filmmaking is more to do with the actual filmmaking process than the distribution of it. Each of the new Star Wars movies has been made in a completely digital process, never needing to touch a reel of film until the end, which got shipped out to cinemas for screening. Filmmakers such as Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppolla recognise that this is the way their craft is going, but none of them have the freedom (creative or financial) to implement this yet.

monkeyfudge

EditDroid was the non-linear edit system developed by Lucas. It worked by transfering footage to laserdiscs. AVID bought the technology off him.

It wasn't actually the first non-linear system though, Montage was, it used an array of 17 Betamax players.

Mark

Ahem.

LucasArts Entertainment Company
Games developed or published by this company:
Grim Fandango
Day of the Tentacle
Samd and Max Hit the Road
Curse of Monkey Island
Escape from Monkey Island
Full Throttle
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Sam & Max 2 (Well maybe not this one the cancelling cunts HAVE YOU NO SENSE OF DECENCY GNAERAER)

projectmayhem

ObeyGiant wrote:

He's winning this award for his contribution to filmmaking. And Lucas' contribution to filmmaking is almost unparalleled - THX, Industrial Light and Magic, Skywalker sound, non-linear editing systems, and to a lesser extent, Pixar - Lucas is responsible for each of these. And most recently, he's been pioneering digital filmmaking. I'd challenge anyone to find another director who has done more for the craft than Lucas.

i agree, thx and ilm etc. have made a massive impact on movies. however, that's not lucas. that's his money. he shouldn't be given an award for being rich...

ObeyGiant

projectmayhem wrote:

i agree, thx and ilm etc. have made a massive impact on movies. however, that's not lucas. that's his money. he shouldn't be given an award for being rich...

So what exactly are you saying here? That his money just somehow managed to escape Lucas' clutches and end up funding these projects of its own accord? Do you imagine Lucas is some sort of nefarious comic villain with a cloak, dangling his money over a pit of alligators until it agrees to fund another cartoon character to add to his shallow-as-mud Star Wars universe?

Of course it's Lucas' money that goes into these initiatives. I as much as said this already when I mentioned Spielberg's admission that very few directors have the financial freedom to pursue such groundbreaking-but-currently-expensive projects.

But my point is that no other similarly successful director you could care to mention has used his (or her, let's not forget the laydeez) money in similarly worthwhile ways. Ultimately, none have bothered investing their money back into their craft as heavily as Lucas.

Carpo

ObeyGiant wrote:

So what exactly are you saying here? That his money just somehow managed to escape Lucas' clutches and end up funding these projects of its own accord? Do you imagine Lucas is some sort of nefarious comic villain with a cloak, dangling his money over a pit of alligators until it agrees to fund another cartoon character to add to his shallow-as-mud Star Wars universe?

Of course it's Lucas' money that goes into these initiatives. I as much as said this already when I mentioned Spielberg's admission that very few directors have the financial freedom to pursue such groundbreaking-but-currently-expensive projects.

I think the suggestion is that instead of the award going to the guy who says "Heres some money, go invent something cool" it should go to the proletariat labourers who slave away in the Lucas Industrial (l&m) Factorys for 0.5 pittances a day. Solidarity brother!

(Or it could be because people are bitter that they cant watch movies through the eyes of an 8 year old anymore and resent the man who is trying to share thier childhood memories with a new generation, which funnily enough, is exactly the kind of behaviour you would expect of an 8 year old. But, then again, what the hell do I know?)